LAURA WOODS: ALMOST CRISIS TIME AT ANFIELD - THINGS HAVE TO CHANGE FAST
LIVERPOOL ARE ON THE VERGE OF A CRISIS
I said last week there was no crisis at Anfield but now, honestly, I do think we’re on the verge of calling this a crisis.
I’m not quite there yet, so let’s call it a mini crisis for now!
I don’t see many people making excuses at this point. Yes, the Frankfurt win was obviously a good boost, and I thought that was going to be a springboard for better results elsewhere – but the defeats to Brentford and Crystal Palace saw to that.
All teams have to contend with fixture congestion, especially the big boys, but that’s why they have big squads.
I also don’t buy that we can’t talk about how much money has been spent when you have the luxury of bringing in two top-tier strikers like Liverpool have, like Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike.
Aston Villa to beat Liverpool is 4/1 with BetMGM
EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE GOING WRONG
The issues stem from introducing a large number of new players at once, and some players not adapting quickly enough.
Alongside that, though, some of the established players like Mo Salah are having a dip in form. Confidence seems quite low throughout the squad as well, and now when you look at the transfer window, spending money on forwards when more defenders were needed doesn't look like such a good idea.
Look at how weak they are defending set pieces at the moment. They’ve gone from having one of the best defences in the league to struggling and conceding goals at will.
Sometimes Arne Slot’s tactics don’t seem to be working, and the team don’t look very gelled. If you pair all of that with a lot of games coming thick and fast, it’s like a perfect storm.
It feels like a lot of things are going wrong at once for Liverpool.
Over 3.5 goals in Liverpool vs Aston Villa is 11/8 with BetMGM
SLOT WON’T BE SACKED – BUT THINGS HAVE TO IMPROVE
I didn’t understand Slot’s team selection for the Carabao Cup game with Crystal Palace at all.
Perhaps it wouldn’t have mattered so much if it wasn’t in the middle of an absolutely awful run where fans are already asking questions, but it just didn’t make any sense to me.
He won’t be sacked. He has far too much credit in the bank; he literally won the league in his first season in this country.
He has got to find a way to get this team firing again though, and perhaps make smarter team selection choices. Going out of a cup doesn’t look good, especially when it’s this early on and it is a home tie.
Yes, he is focusing on turning things around in the league, but again – it’s not a good look.
Hugo Ekitike to have over 1.5 shots on target against Aston Villa is 11/8 with BetMGM
CITY NEED OTHER PLAYERS TO STEP UP
Erling Haaland has scored 11 out of 17 goals for Manchester City this season, which is a huge percentage.
Though City are a team that used to share that around a lot, they never had this type of striker before Haaland, so it’s also unsurprising.
While they’re winning games it doesn’t matter so much, but if he gets injured or has a bad game, suddenly it could become a big problem – we saw what happened against Aston Villa.
The rest of the team behind him is a lot less clinical. There’s a big drop off between Haaland and them. Guardiola needs other players to step up and share the load.
Manchester City to beat Bournemouth is 12/25 with BetMGM
GOLDEN GOALS MATCHDAY 10 SELECTIONS
Here’s what I’m thinking for the latest Golden Goals round:
You can find out more about Golden Goals and play along here.
Golden Goals Terms & Conditions
Opt in & predict 6 correct scores (see game lobby for weekly tournament cut-off time) to win up to £250k jackpot. Predict 2+ correct scores and win a prize (ranging from Free Bets to £5k Prizepool). Winnings shared evenly in case of multiple winners. Each prize subject to its own terms. Void if 1 or more matches postponed/abandoned or not completed. Verification procedures apply. 18+. T&Cs and exclusions apply.
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change
